The guy at the very top of my draft board should we stay at #11. The best thing about bringing Mercilus on board is that we can have him develop for a year behind Hali and Houston, and eventually push both of them.

I don't need to tell you much about this guy. His wingspan is ridiculous and his speed is unholy. He is instinctual, with a great nose for the ball. With him on board, we have the best OLB depth in the NFL, and we can also run some downright evil subpackages:

2. FS Brandon Taylor, LSU

With the second-shallowest depth chart position shored up on the defense, let's turn to the first-shallowest. There are some who say that the 2012 draft is a crappy year for safeties, and they wouldn't be wrong. But there are some seriously underestimated talents that the Chiefs could acquire to turn our defense's weakness into a strength.

Taylor is, to my mind, more bottom-of-the-second, top-of-the-third talent, but this is worth the reach. There are more drums beating that Harrison Smith, who I think is slightly overrated, will rise to the bottom of the 1st round while somebody who was incredibly productive in a program designed to suck as many stats away from him as possible.

Taylor is a free safety, but he will essentially be our dimeback in the 40% or so snaps we run, and could easily start at either strong or free down the line if we lose Berry or Lewis. I would still start Lewis over him given how sharp Lewis is, but last year proved we needed as much insurance as possible.

3. NT Josh Chapman, Alabama

Another slight reach, Chapman in the third. I've been trying to stick with less popular selections in this mock while keeping it realistic but there's just no way around the nose position, which needs to be fixed. Problem is, out of 256 draftable players, only one really plays our scheme at the nose position, and Chapman is that guy.

Chapman is the ideal nose tackle, and fits the Jerrell Powe personality to a T. He is very popular in the locker room, tough as nails, and plays so low to the ground he's basically on his knees. He's also got some pass rush to his game, a very underrated part of his game. He could very well be a Day One starter but you better believe, as I do, that Powe/Gordon are a good backup combo at the position should his knees start acting up.

4. OT Brandon Mosley, Auburn

Another shallow position the Chiefs need help at is swing tackle, and while all sorts of players are mocked here from Nate Potter to Andrew Datko, neither one has the reliability of Mosley who is a great value pick if he falls this far. Mosley has great arm length, great run-blocking power, and some left tackle potential. He came to Auburn as a tight end, but left as a 315 lbs behemoth.

The Chiefs are having Steve Maneri lose weight this offseason, so bringing in a true 6th lineman for imbalanced lines is well deserving of a 4th round pick.

5. RB Robert Turbin, Utah State

Turbin's a bit overrated on this board. He runs with great power, as you can see above, but he is a little stiff. But he takes great angles and has wonderful hands in the passing game -- he is basically a younger version of BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

Still, you can't overrate that power. And this team badly needs depth at running back in the event that either Hillis or Charles go down to injury again.

6. SS Winston Guy, Jr., Kentucky

Guy has been a pet pick of mine all year, and I've been pleased to see him slide down draft boards, because this is the kind of pick Pioli would make. He won't get fooled by inadequate Combine figures. He'll know a player when he sees one.

Guy is a player. He routinely put up 90+ tackle seasons for the Wildcats, which was partially because their defense sucked. But we didn't knock Kuechly for that, so we're not going to knock Guy either.

Guy is very instinctual, which is always alluring to me. In a pinch, he could play some spot work if we had to go a little deeper down the depth chart this year. Losing Berry would be a wreck for our run defense, as Lewis and Taylor are neither true box-pounders (NTTAWTT). Guy is.

7. WR Jarius Wright, Arkansas

I've decided to go a bit of an unorthodox route with my 7th rounders, and take some boom-or-bust guys. Our offense has a lot of weapons, but it needs a one-dimensional speed threat.

Wright can be an explosion. He's a smaller receiver, but I think he has a chance to play outside if he cleans up a lot of his route running. Until then, he's a solid slot option in case we decide we want to keep playing Breaston out wide.

I'm starting to come around more on Mercilus. I think he's probably moved into my top 3 guys for that 11 spot.

And if you're going to reach on the #2, why wouldn't it be on Chapman? Let's face it - if the draft was over and you had Tayler with another team having Chapman and they offered you Chapman for Taylor straight up - wouldn't you take it? I've been a Taylor backer for awhile now, but even I wouldn't think twice about making that move. Chapman would be a much more valuable addition to the team than Taylor.

So when you look at the possible 'loss' involved and both guys are going to be similar reaches, why not go with the guy that you'd less want to lose in Chapman?

I like the Mosely pick a lot as well (still think Carolina would be nuts pass on him in the 4th, though) and can't speak to the rest of them.

they're all good players, some (DEs) were over drafted...none of them are busts, though Jackson was close...two of them are going to be stars (berry, houston)...those are good returns

most of the talk about 'replacing' is about dorsey/jackson and that's based on the belief that the Chiefs intend to let one of them walk...

Lewis was a 5th round pick, wanting him to be a #3 safety instead of a #2 safety is no knock, they guy has overachieved

Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with any of them honestly. I actually am one of the biggest supporters of Lewis on this board. But that does not change the opinion of many on this board about most of those players I named.